No, I didn’t have KK cracked twice in a tournament. Somewhere between Osaka and Westport I came down with a cold or infection that made its presence known a couple nights ago and pretty much put glacier-walking off the itinerary. We decided to cut the travels short and head back home.

I was definitely ill: at one point on the drive home through Arthur’s Pass I couldn’t make it across the car park without feeling too cold and miserable to continue; once back into Christchurch we ran into several of my sister’s flatmates and friends, many of whom were dressed in t-shirts while I had on four layers of warm clothing.

Today’s been spent in and out of bed, drinking fluids and keeping warm. I’d like to note that this is the third time this year I’ve come down with something. It may be time to quit smoking.

After Vegas, of course.

Maybe that third beer wasn’t such a good idea, but I’ve managed to spend the first 3 hours of my 6 hour layover in Osaka doing what I do best: spending time on the Internet, smoking cigarettes, and drinking beer. I should put some money in my PokerRoom account so I can play some Java-based Hold’em.

Like the Incheon (Seoul) airport, the Osaka airport has these smoking areas and Internet kiosks. Anyone who’s had to wait for the next flight in an airport can understand that these things, and $5 draft beer, can help pass the time adequately. If my friggin’ laptop hadn’t died, I could also be making (or losing) some big bets playing at Party Poker’s Bad Beat Jackpot tables. Ah well. One can’t have everything.

But having my laptop with me also would have also enabled me to avoid using this goddamn Japanese keyboard. There’s extra keys, and a colon key where the apostrophe should be. That makes typing all these conjunctions an exercise my Asahi-addled brain isn’t completely equipped to handle. Good thing I have a modified type-A personality. I wouldn’t want to foist misspellings and bizarre punctuation on my reading public.

Ah yes, one other nicety about the airport here in Osaka and the one in Incheon (Seoul) (which I keep wanting to spell as “Seould”): bathrooms for handicapped persons. I’m not handicapped (at least not in the way they would define it), but I can appreciate a bathroom where I have a toilet and sink all to my lonesome. I just wish I had more food in my system so I could take full advantage of them.

2.75 hours to go until my flight. You sleeping Americans go on and have a good time dreaming of waking up to an English-speaking world. I’ll be joining you in 15 hours when I touch down in Auckland, New Zealand.